The Encounter of a Young Vampire
by Navets
Summary: A side story of True Blood focusing on the fated encounter between a 260 year old vampire girl with the appearance of an 8-year old who works at Fangtasia, and a troubled man living in Shreveport.
1. Chapter 1: A fated encounter

**Chapter 1: A fated encounter  
**

Leo Hoffman had led nothing short of an innumerably soporific life. He was born, and then prodded into god's great earth with only his parent's dreams and his preordained talents to show for himself. Yes, he had achieved the High School diploma envisioned, he had gone to a local community College and worked a prosaic, minimum wage job to keep mom and dad from emptying their bank accounts, and he had finished college with a bachelor's degree in Business & Management. Leo had accomplished all these things with the minimalistic drive of a lame mule. It truly did not help the fact that he lived in a ho-dunk town in Louisiana. It was a detrimental fact that he believed, with all honesty, that he had never truly been happy. Those glorious days growing up as a child, celebrating birthdays, not having the complications of adult life pushing down upon him seemed (in a cliché manner) miles away. And oh, was he ever so dramatic about it. Not out rightly so to his parents or his close friends, or even to his lovers…but in his personal thoughts he berated himself with inconsequential melancholy.

It was in this soporific way of life that Leo walked from his work, to his flat at 9:00 P.M every night. Sometimes he would stop by the super market and buy a carton of milk, sometimes a bottle of wine, and more often than not a box of condoms to not-so-subtly hint to his current gal pal that he was unabashedly looking to be laid that night. That night had been one of those unabashed nights and Leo's mind was surprisingly not focused on what sexual antics could go on between him and his interim mate. He strolled briskly through a familiar alleyway, the one that he had always noted to have an unappetizing amount of garbage skewed across the feet of old apartment buildings.

As Inevitable luck would have it, the same alleyway that Leo Hoffman was strolling down, with a plastic grocery bag of condoms thrashing around his waist, was the same one that Fern was inspecting for a light meal. It was, as of late, her favorite place to hang around because many of the people who were brazen enough to walk down such a place late at night were people that high society may have given a rain-check to. Sure, 90% of the people she had cornered had been terribly ugly and unkempt, and one man in particular had even tried to coax her into his apartment… but they were easy catches and if they were wasting their lives away then who really gave a damn if they sacrificed for her benefit. It was an awful lot for Fern to infer about people walking down a dingy alley, but after 260 years she felt that her inferences were more than precise.

So it was Fern who would be doing the coaxing on that night, as she spotted a figure moving down the alleyway at a busy speed. Besides, playing games were still her favorite past time. She made sure to time the escapade just right, so it would enhance the martyr's likelihood to be drawn to her. In a swift movement of tiny limbs, Fern flumped onto the dirty cement and buried her face in her arms. And of course, the final touch- she started to cry softly, making sure the sobs sounded like the unblemished bawl of an 8-year old girl.

Leo was more than surprised when he spotted the tiny ball of a girl wailing against the bricks of a building. Begrudgingly, he knew it was his duty as a member of society to see why on earth a helpless little girl was crying in a shitty alleyway.

"Excuse me," he knelt down in front of the little girl, but made sure to keep a little distance so as not to scare her, "why are you crying? Are you lost? Is your Mom or Dad around here somewhere?"

Leo, suddenly remembering that he was holding a bag of condoms, whisked it behind his back and waited patiently for the tiny girl to stop whimpering.

When Fern was sure that the man was caught in her web, she slowly lifted her head up and looked into the eyes of her next meal. But it was in that enticing moment that Fern was overcome with the beauty of the young man. His large, pale blue eyes had a shallow hint of melancholy in them- his face was angular and unnecessarily shoved into an expression of concern. His flushed lips a perfect pouting shape, and his lightly messed shock of deep brown hair falling lightly over his shoulders. She gasped, a feat that she had most likely not unintentionally done since she was human.

"Oh don't worry! I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help you get home", Leo said calmly when he noticed the girl's eyes widening with, what he assumed to be fear.

Fern couldn't move. She didn't even remember to imitate the act of breathing.

Leo narrowed his eyebrows and leaned in closer to the girl, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

His question shocked Fern's mind back into reality. _What's wrong with me, why can't I drink from him._ But how could it be that something so trivial as an attractive man could keep her from locking her jaw around his placid neck? She stood quickly, brushed some dirt off of her pale legs and stared down at the man, trying to keep her cool.

Leo looked at the girl incredulously, it seemed as if she had changed into a completely different person than the little girl that was crying in a heap two seconds ago…this one seemed…older, much more mature. He also noted, with a little contrite, that the little girl was unquestionably beautiful and doll-like. Her ringlets of long red hair reminded him of a porcelain doll his mother used to keep on the top shelf of her closet. The girl _looked _like a porcelain doll, her skin so pale that it practically glowed in the moonlight and her glinting eyes perfectly round aqua orbs. He was frozen by her beauty, just as she had been frozen by his.

"Your name is Leo?" Fern asked…though it was more of a demand. She crossed her arms across her chest, a motion that would have seemed child-like and indignant if it were not for her misplaced maturity.

He could only nod, his eyes still locked on her hair.

"Ah. What a strange and pernicious world it is where I cannot bring myself to drink from a human being…." She sighed. "I'll have you know that being treated like an insignificant twerp for so long begins to take a toll on how much interaction you can actually_ take_ with a human."

"I….I'm sorry…I really don't know what you're talking about…uh…do you still want me…to um…." Leo was at a loss for words, though he had the fleeting sensation that this beautiful little girl was not actually upset about being separated from her parents…or lost, for that matter.

"Humans are all the same, you know. If you look into their eyes long enough you can see everything there is to them," Fern reached out a pale hand and placed it on his cheek. Her eyes flickered.

Leo backed away in shocked when he felt how icy cold the child's hands were. It was not like the kind of cold that one can be when they were sick, but the feeling of frozen porcelain.

"You….your hand", he whispered, "you need to be warmed up. I…I'll get you to a doctor or…or-"

Fern smiled faintly. "Ah, now I remember that being alive for only a few short years can affect how perceptive one is. Are you aware, Leo, that it is in the middle of July and nearly 78 degrees out? In what perplexing scenario could I actually be suffering from some form of Hypothermia?"

He backed himself up against the opposite wall, struck by how non-childlike the child was. There was nothing he could say to her that would make sense when it came out of his mind. He tried to put tangible thoughts together. Her black cotton dress fluttered lightly as she took a step towards him.

"Your eyes…your eyes are crying out to me. They are shouting at me that you are unhappy with your life, and that you wish there was something more. You are wanting, hungering for something besides your purposeless life." She whispered, her voice ringing in his ears like the tinkle of bells.

She reached out another cold hand to his face, this time he didn't move away, and brought it to exposed neck.

"The question is, Mr. Leo, do you truly want a different _life_?"

**End Chapter 1. **


	2. Chapter 2: The offer stands

**Well Hello there, it seems that I forgot to post an author's not before the first chapter last time, so I'm going to fill you in on the boring details now.**

**This is indeed a 'True Blood' fanfic, but it centers around two new characters that I have made up on my own. Fern Braxton is a vampire that is connected with both Eric Northman and Bill Compton (Obviously with Eric in the way that she works at Fangtasia, and her connection to Bill will later be revealed.)**

**Leo Hoffman isn't connected to anyone...but he does live in Shreveport and is also relatively close to Fangtasia. **

**I'm hoping that this series will have at least 10 chapters, maybe more if I can come up with more plot lines. Also, don't freak out and think this is a story centered on pedophilia. Fern is _not_ a child. She just has the physical appearance of one. Though I'm not promising there won't be any romance ;) **

**And another thing, there may be some incorrect grammar in Leo's dialouge because I'm trying to give him that "southern accent" thing. Hey, trust me, I grew up in Georgia.**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 2: The offer stands  
**

"The question is, Mr. Leo, do you truly want a different _life_?"

Fern grasped the man's neck tightly and grinned wickedly, extending her pearlescent fangs. Leo's eyes widened.

"Oh, shit, you're a vampire?!" he cried out, trying to pry her freezing hand off his neck. "Y…you're not allowed to drink from me without my permission right? Isn't that against the law or something?"

A giggle escaped Fern's lips. "You worry too much about the little things. Now, I asked you question and you would be wise to answer truthfully."

Leo gulped down some air, his neck starting hurt in the place she was grabbing him. He tried to think straight…it was still hard for him to register that a little-girl was slowly choking him and he could not seem to get away. It struck him that this was his first encounter with a vampire.

"Look", he gasped, "let me go and we can talk about…about whatever the hell it is you're trying to talk about with me. "

"Hmmm. And I suppose I should trust this proposition?" Fern asked playfully. She ran her other finger along his lower jaw line.

"God Damnit, yes! Let me go! For the love of Christ almighty let me go!"

Fern released her grasp and let Leo slide down the wall. He coughed for a couple seconds, rubbing the area around his neck that was now bruised.

"Let me rephrase my question in plain English", she retorted, "do you, or do you not want to be made into a vampire?"

"Well, shit. What kind of question is that? I've got a life y'know! I've got a job, a girlfriend…a great family…and I don't have time to be running around with a blood-sucking, psychotic little girl. Christ."

"Leo, your life isn't worth a horse's ass to you. I told you before that I can see it in your eyes. You would give up anything to flush your mundane schedule down the toilet and run off on some grand adventure. The problem is you just don't have the means to do it."

Leo stopped rubbing his neck and looked up at the little girl. "How the hell do you know that? Can you read my mind? You ain't doing any of that glamouring shit to me are you, because I swear to God I-"

"Your brain Leo, you have one…please use it. Do you honestly think that I would waste my time pretending to be a lost little girl so I could sink my teeth into your neck when I could just look at you and do it? I've never been able to glamour. I've told you, to exaggerate, half a billion times that I saw it in your eyes." Fern interjected. She sighed and turned her back to him. "I'm giving you a _choice._"

"I mean," Leo whispered, "you can't just ask me to make a decision like that. It's…it's like asking me if I want to commit suicide. I would be dead!"

"You're dead now, Leo"

"What?!"

Fern turned around swiftly, her red curls bouncing like mattress springs.

"Come with me to Fangtasia, just on a whim- please?" she pleaded, the seriousness gone from out of her voice. Leo was suddenly met with the same little girl who had been crying just minutes earlier…a real little girl.

"Why on god's green earth would I want to go with you to Fangtasia? That's that dumpy vampire bar on the other side of town isn't it?" he scoffed. Leo had never really been in on the whole vampires "coming out" thing. He watched the stories on the news but had little knowledge of what vampires were actually like or how he felt about them. And he had most certainly and unquestionably never been to _Fangtasia_.

"You only live once, usually. I'm giving you the option to live twice. Come on... I'll give you some time to think about it. Just come to Fangtasia with me."

Leo looked down the alleyway and thought about his girlfriend's likely abhorrence at the fact that he was not home yet. The undeniably strange thing was that the little vampire's persistence on going to Fangtasia was starting to wear on him.

"This is so fucking weird. A vampire tries to kill me, and now I'm going to go with it to some fangbanger bar." He said under his breath.

Fern grinned, her fangs already having been retracted. "So you're agreeing to come with me then?"

"I guess so. I don't really want to think about what's going to happen if I say 'no'. But it's gonna take us at least an hour to walk there."

In a blur of motion, Leo was off the ground and in Fern's arms.

"I do hope you don't mind me carrying you too much. But it will only take a few minutes this way." Fern said confidently.

"In all honesty I do mind , being a 26 year old man, gettin' carried by a little girl to a-"

But before he could finish, the dank setting of the alleyway had changed and they were traveling down the deserted highway at an innumerable speed. The wind stung his eyes so much that he had to squint, and he dared not look up at the young vampire's face. Hell, he didn't even know her name yet.

She was right, because it was only a few minutes later that they arrived in the busy parking lot of Fangtasia. She dropped him back on his feet and he rubbed some dust out of his eyes. The unwelcoming red bar sign glowed and cast a crimson shadow over the long line of people waiting for entry into the club. Many were wearing obviously fake vampire teeth, chain collars, and one woman was completely clad in a leather jumpsuit.

There was, of course, only one thought that entered Leo's mind: _freaks._

He also noticed that the young vampire was waving at a rather tall and pale looking man standing at an entryway to the back of the bar.

"Hello Eric", she called, "you're looking rather wonderful and brooding tonight!"

**End of Chapter 2.**


	3. Chapter 3: Brooding

**Hello, Navets again. So I've finally introduced an actual True Blood character into the story, and I'm really hoping I was able to capture Eric's "essence". **

**A few other things, Fern and Leo are not actual characters of True Blood. Imagine this being a side story of something that happens off the show- and Fern wouldn't have been introduced in the real show because, well...she has the appearance of an 8-year old. But Eric and Fern have been "friends" (if you could actually call it something that friendly) for more than 50 years. Eric is not her maker. **

**Warning: I do not own True Blood or Eric Northman. *sob***

* * *

**Chapter 3: Brooding  
**

"Hello Eric", she called, "you're looking rather wonderful and brooding tonight!"

Eric did not smile, as was such his personality, but Fern ran up to him anyway. Leo stood implacably rooted to his spot in the parking lot, staring with his mouth halfway open at the collection of vampire wannabees swarming around the main entrance of the club. Fern rolled her eyes. _Perhaps all there is to this human is his good looks,_ she thought, _though brains would surely later develop._ She stood in front of Eric, having to tilt her head up to an uncomfortable angle to actually see his face. He looked as depressed as ever, the same familiar handsome attributes and short, slicked-back blond hair that only highlighted the paleness of his face and the pinkish circles under his eyes. He was wearing a ridiculous leather jacket again (with no shirt underneath, of course…the owner of a vampire bar must accentuate their deathly sexiness) and black pants to match. He looked right back down at Fern and tilted his head, as if inspecting a bug or, even worse- a human child.

"Fern, I see you brought a dish home with you tonight. How quaint. I do hope you're not planning on doing something illegal with it that could present a threat to this establishment", he said coldly, eyeing Leo with the same patronizing stare that he had just given to Fern.

She cleared her throat. "I…I'm just really _drawn_ to this one…which is extremely rare seeing as how humans have only appealed to me as blood sacks for the past couple centuries."

The tall vampire continued to look rather disinterested and irked. "Fine. Bring him over here. This could be entertaining", he muttered.

Fern grinned and turned around to wave at Leo, her arm seeming to leave behind a white arc in the blur of movement. Leo's attention was still diverted to the aberrant scene in front of the club. So it was no surprise to Fern when he tensed up and practically fell over when she was right back in his face again in less than a second.

"Shit", he hissed, "You can't just shove yourself into people's faces like that! I don't give a crap how fast you are, I-"

"Leo, stop making a fool of yourself", Fern interjected. "I'm going to introduce you to the sheriff of Area 5 and I don't want you to open your mouth unless he asks you a question. Are we clear on this?"

Leo closed his mouth and nodded. He had the fair idea that it was probably best for him to not make any trouble with beings that could crush his neck bones with the flex of a finger. _The sheriff of Area 5? Vampires have 'sheriffs'? _

At a regular pace, Fern turned around and started walking back towards the 'brooding' vampire. Leo followed closely behind, focusing more on the cigarette butts littered across the parking lot than the stony face that was just a few paces in front of him.

"So you're the human that our little Fern has taken an interest in. I don't see the appeal", said the lightly-accented vampire voice.

_Fern, so that was her name._

Leo lifted his head up and stared at the Sheriff of area 5. In Leo's eyes, he looked less like a sheriff and more like a gay male model. He wondered if maybe that was the requirement for vampire sheriffs. Fern kept smiling, and motioned towards the vampire.

"Leo, this is Eric. Eric-this is my human Leo."

"_Your_ human?! I am not 'your human'!" Leo exclaimed, averting his gaze from Eric and over to Fern's.

But it was in Fern's sudden infuriated look that Leo remembered what she had just told him. _Don't open your mouth unless he asks you a question._ He tensed up at the sudden silence at stared down at the ground. _You idiot._

Eric smiled smugly. "Oh? Fern-this human claims to not belong to you. Perhaps you should have warned him about the consequences of saying such a thing" he jeered.

Fern took a step forward in front of Leo.

"Eric, please don't!"


	4. Chapter 4: First bite

**Chapter 4: First bite  
**

"Eric, please don't!"

Eric smiled maliciously, the absence of fangs not making him any less terrifying.

"Stop", Fern hissed once more, "you said that you did not see the appeal to this human, therefore I do not find it sensible to just -"

"Be quiet. Knowing you for half a century does not mean I will grant you special privileges", Eric growled. He looked Leo up and down once more, and motioned for both of them to follow him inside the throbbing club. Fern dropped her outstretched arms back down to her sides and whirled around fiercely.

"You fool, I told you not to not to say a thing! If you would have trusted my judgment you would not be in a situation where there is a great possibility of you getting your first vampire bite _unwillingly_!" she whispered, obviously outraged. Her perfectly angelic face was plastered with the mask of worry.

She grabbed Leo's arm and flung open the red door that Eric had strolled into moments before. Leo gulped down dry air, the words "vampire bite" and "unwillingly" carving an elicit hole into the pit of his stomach.

"Jesus, sorry", Leo whispered back as they curved down a dank hallway, "I just didn't know that I was suddenly your property or something! Forgive me if I don't dance around in a fucking circle for being called 'your human'!"  
"Shut up, Leo. This time I really mean it."

The pair instantly closed their mouths and slowed their pace when they entered into a small office. Eric was casually sitting behind a large desk, his feet propped up like he was king of the castle. A dull hanging light slowly swung around their heads. Leo tried his absolute best not to stare at a couch in the corner with suspicious red stains on it.

"Human", Erik's voice seemed to reverberate off the cement floor, "why don't you come have a seat by me?" He patted a wooden folding chair next to him and grinned. Fern continued to look incredibly displeased.

Leo opened his mouth, about to ask "why?", but then remembered that opening his mouth was what had got him into such a terrifying position in the first place. The entire encounter of the night certainly did _not_ beat having boring sex with his girlfriend. If anything, he missed her fake moans and awkward thrusts. There was more sex appeal teaming in Eric's eyes than what's-her-face could give in a lifetime. The only problem was- Leo wasn't gay. He slowly crossed over to the chair next to Eric, his eyes glued to the tacky carpet across the cement floor, and sat with his ass scooted as far away from the menacing vampire as possible.

"Oh now come on, don't be like that. You smell _so _delicious", Eric teased. He turned and faced Leo, his hand positioned lightly on his temple.

Fern cut in, unable to hold back, "What are you playing at? He's not even your type! I thought that you only enjoyed females!"

"Yeah buddy, I'm…I'm not gay." Leo whispered, but instantly regretted it.

Fern retracted her fangs and let out a sort of growl. "I thought I told you to be _quiet_!" she snarled. Her tiny hands curved into fists, as if to communicate to Leo that he was dead meat one way or the other.

Eric cut in, his smile gone. "Fern. Don't move."

In a less than gentle manner, Eric grabbed Leo by the shoulders and forced him closer to his face as if he weighed less than a bag of groceries. Leo heard Fern make a sort of squeaking sound.

"Try not to tense up, it just makes the whole experience…painful" Eric breathed into Leo's ear. With a snap, Eric retracted his fangs and bit into the lower part of his neck with carnivorous fervor.

For the few minutes that Leo was too stunned to yell or try to push away, he could only describe the vampire's biting and sucking into his neck as the feeling of a mosquito amplified 50 fold. He could _feel _his teeth digging into his punctured flesh, his tongue lapping at the copious amounts of blood, his shoulder being slowly crushed by his grappling hold. He started to shake, and then he let out almost the same sort of squeak that Fern had emitted earlier. He felt utterly helpless.

"S….S…stop….please", he stuttered, trying to move his arms. He felt the collar of his blue work shirt beginning to soak up the blood. Eric only bit harder. In truth, Leo could no longer feel his arms…or his legs, or his neck….

His head lolled forward, and Eric moved a hand off his crushed shoulder and shoved them into his head-pushing it back again. He punctured a different area of Leo's neck, his tongue intruding the layers of skin and muscle. It was nothing short of hell.

"Stop….stop it", Leo faintly heard a meek voice say, "you're killing him!"

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**Was the biting to graphic? Y'all let me know if I should change the rating to "M" at any point during the story. I'm pretty sure it's o.k though....**


	5. Chapter 5: Choice is yours

**Chapter 5: Choice is yours  
**

"Stop…stop it", Leo faintly heard a meek voice say, "you're killing him!"

When Leo's body had gone into a complete limp stupor, Eric ripped his fangs out of his neck, and let him drop to the floor in an unnatural heap. Eric wiped his mouth lightly with the back of his hand, though he had just barely made an indent in the large amount of blood covering his lower face. This was, of course, the result of a less than gratuitous drinking.

Fern reacted quickly, fleeting to Leo's side in a millisecond and instantly putting an ear down to listen for the all-too-familiar sound of a pumping heart. His eyes remained closed, unmoving.

"He's alive…", she whispered, "but just barely. You must have almost completely drained him…."

"I'm ashamed that you would think me barbaric enough to kill a human in my own bar. I've only drained him half-way. It's not very often that I come across a human so insatiable" Eric retorted. He smiled and casually sat back in his chair.

"Half-way drained. Half-way…Eric! He's going to die if we do not take him to a hospital! And they will know when they see the atrocious state his neck is in that it was vampire kind that has done it", Fern exclaimed.

She inspected the rest of his body, growing angrier when she saw that his shoulders had been crushed to the point where one of the bones was jutting out at an awkward angle. His neck had been punctured in several places, reminding Fern that Eric was over 1,000 years old and he had gotten quite skilled at finding just the "right" arteries for maximum blood flow. But she did not know why she suddenly cared so much that Eric had brutalized a human; if it were any other fangbanger in the bar she would have shrugged her shoulders and joined in on the fun. Especially if it was someone who was being sucked _against_ their will.

"Fern, this isn't like you." Eric stood and walked over to a cabinet next to his desk, grabbed a red insignia 'Fangtasia' towel, and began wiping the remaining blood off his face. He stopped for a moment, and looked inquisitively down at the unconscious Leo.

"What is that has made you feel so attached to this human? He is delicious, no doubt, but you haven't even gotten a taste yet" he teased.

"I can't remember the last time I felt anything. It's neither his looks…nor his smell…there's something familiar about him. And since you have so kindly recognized that I took a liking to him and, quite literally, turned him into mince meat I may never solve the mystery", fern said. She tried not to sound upset, or look Eric in the eyes. Upset. That was something new.

"It's going to take quite a large amount of peroxide to clean this jacket."

Fern bit the inside of her lip. "You don't even care. Why am I not surprised?"

Eric flung a malicious glare at her.

"You're right", he sneered, "but I've also opened a door for you that you would have been to cowardly to attempt before. You have to make a _choice _now. Give the human your blood so he can heal, or suck him the rest of the way dry and make him one of us."

It was the inevitable truth. Fern looked down at Leo, still bleeding profusely onto the carpet, and then back up at Eric's sequentially bloody appearance. She had never been a maker before. Mostly because she did not know if she would have the power to do so; she couldn't glamour humans, and she had never given her blood to a human. If she fed Leo her blood, she wouldn't be able to leave him alone for the rest of his life. She would feel his most private feelings…be able to sense where he was at all times. And, worst of all, he might develop those certain inappropriate "feelings" towards her. But if he was made vampire, he could do the things for Fern that she herself was handicapped in…her own personal, beautiful servant….

"I….I don't….." Fern stammered.

"Please be more hasty with your decision, the human is ruining my new carpet."

Fern closed her eyes. She bent down next to Leo's neck, and released that night's unbridled hunger.


	6. Chapter 6: Recountal

**Chapter 6: Recountal  
**

Fern closed her eyes. She bent down next to Leo's neck, and released that night's unbridled hunger. While some vampires suckled at a human's necks like hungry infants, Fern preferred to drink with the gusto of a barrel-chested gentleman in a beer chugging contest. Leo, of course, was not an exception. Eric had been inconceivably right about the sweet, addicting flavor of his blood. It was better than any human's blood she had ever tasted in all her 260 years of vampirism. There was something homely and _familiar_ about his taste that she was too distracted to try and identify. As fern gulped, she felt the feeble beating of his heart-his pulse was weakening with each pump of blood into her mouth. She wanted so badly to undo the entire night. _Why couldn't he have been just like every other human to me? He does not deserve a living death. He does not deserve it…he does not deserve to feel the pain that I have…_

Leo Hoffman's soporific life was coming to an end. In the second that his heart had almost slowed to nothing, a gurgle of blood seeping out of his own mouth, Fern gently pulled her fangs out and stared intently at the floor. She was ashamed of herself.

"Did I not tell you he was delicious? I never go back on my word" Eric said jokingly. He had been sitting at his desk, watching Fern suffer through the killing process and smiling his smug, ass-hole smile.

"You're…a _monster_…" Fern snarled.

"Oh, don't give me that insolence. You haven't had a problem killing humans until now. Besides- you could have just given him your blood to heal. This was ultimately your decision."

"You knew I wanted him! You knew and you drank from him! I couldn't bear to let him go on living as a human and be afraid of me forever!"

Eric let out a sort of growl and slammed his hand onto his desk, upsetting a lamp and a stack of papers. Fern averted her gaze down to Leo's motionless face. His eyes were still closed, his mouth partly open, a thin stream of blood still oozing down his pale chin.

"If you don't give him your blood, you know what will happen" Eric hissed.

With a sharp glare up at the man who had instigated the terrible change that was about to happen to her Leo, Fern held up her wrist and sank her fangs into her own frozen capillaries. She gently opened Leo's mouth and placed her wrist above it. Her blood leaked into his mouth slowly, but then faster as she squeezed it out. She had never shared her own blood with a human. It was new, terrible experience.

"I'm sorry", she whispered, "I'm so, so sorry."

"That should be about adequate. Come, take your human and I'll show you the closest grave yard. By nightfall two days from now, he will rise vampire- and you will rise as his eternal maker."

**. . .**

It had been a while since Fern had been underground. The cold wetness of the dirt did not suffocate her or seep into her orifices as it would a human, but rather, it engulfed her in a comforting blanket. She distantly heard Eric finish covering the 6-foot grave with dirt, and then disappearing back into the night. Maybe she had been wrong to blame him for Leo's demise. Perhaps a companion was what she needed after alone for so long. She wouldn't have to kill her victims. Leo's beautiful, _adult_ exterior could catch all the meals they could ever want. _Perhaps,_ She thought,_ we could even do…that…with each other._

She wrapped her tiny arms around his waist, letting her forehead rest up against his back. He still smelled as wonderful as he had before. But he no longer possessed the warm glow of a human that she had first taken such a liking to.

"I'm going to tell you my story", Fern whispered through the dirt, "I'm going to tell you because you need to know why I am such a miserable, misunderstood creature. My maker never warned me what my new life was going to be like. But I, I know better than that."

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**So next chapter is going to be solely based on Fern's life. Her miserable childhood, her terrible new life, and her disgusting maker. **

**Also- I'm going to warn you that I may change the rating to "M" because Fern's maker is obviously a sick bastard. Meh.**


	7. Chapter 7: London Calling

**Chapter 7: London Calling  
**

"I'm going to tell you my story", Fern whispered through the dirt, "I'm going to tell you because you need to know why I am such a miserable, misunderstood creature. My maker never warned me what my new life was going to be like. But I, I know better than that."

"When I first saw you I was startled by your beauty. I toyed with the idea of making you into a vampire…I even asked you out rightly so. It was no lie when I told you your eyes were crying out to me. For what would be the loss of you dying and being reborn if you were already only half-living your life? You only refused because you were afraid. I _felt_ that fear when Eric first bit into you. Suddenly, you wanted all of your pathetic life back. Of course, we never really know what we had until we no longer have it. You'll understand that soon enough. But I want you to know that it would have been better if you made the decision. _I was going to let you make the decision._"

Fern let her suppressed memories wash over her. It was a memory she had never wished to reveal to any living soul. But Leo wasn't living any longer.

. . .

"My human life started in 1750- London, England. It was the eve of the Industrial Revolution; London was starting to take on a new face that many transposed to be a new era. The city was booming with businesses, wealthy people, and an outlandish amount of crime. When I was only two years old, my father was beaten to death by the hands of a "professional policeman" protecting the well being of a measly pig. My father had been desperate when he lost his job at the printing press company and could no longer pay to buy my mother and I food. This was so called "justice" in the eyes of the peace-keepers in London. You steal, and you pay for it in unnecessary brutality. As far as the poor impoverished wenches that stole what food they could manage were concerned, both the police and the criminals were doing wrong. And to each his own. My Mother was devastated when she caught wind of what had happened; it was bad news for a woman with a tiny child to lose her husband. She tried desperately to remarry a stout butcher that lived a few houses down from our small place. He was infatuated with her beauty-it was the only attribute that had gotten her way in life. But when the butcher discovered that she had a small toddler, and was pregnant again, he wanted nothing to do with her. For why would a man punish himself with bastard children? They were not _his_ own.

We were forced to take to the streets. It was a bit of a shock, really, for my poor Mother. Going from middle-class to beggar all in but a few weeks drove her a bit mad. I don't remember much of being a human…but I remember the pain of hunger. Still, to this day. And I can see my Mother's dirt streaked face, her swollen pregnant belly hidden behind layers of rags, begging the rich people of Fleet Street to help her. _Help me, help my little girl, Fern…Fern…Fern…please!_

If you were to ask my how it was, exactly, that I managed to live as a human until I was 7 years old I wouldn't be able to tell you. I lived only in the moments where I found food and shelter; I talked only in the moments of tugging on a gentleman's coat and begging for a mere 2 pence. The only world I knew was the underside of London. I knew nothing better, and yet I had never been truly happy. In the years of my Mother trying to provide for both me and my younger sister, Chelsea, she had betrothed herself with the necessary position of a low-class prostitute. Sometimes she would leave me and Chelsea alone for hours while she was off with a man. She had cheap rates, but sometimes the men would beat her and rape her. I distinctly remember her crying to herself at night, her sobs reverberating off the stone bricks of an alleyway. It was a life she had never dreamed for herself.

_He_, had unveiled himself as a client of my mother's. It was late at night, as I recall, and my Mother sat on road with her bare legs casually sprawled across the cobblestone street. She tried to capture the gaze of men walking by, though most of them were revolted by her withered beauty and brazen display of sexuality. I was playing a skipping game with Chelsea, unaware of what my Mother was trying to accomplish. As far as my sister and I were concerned her disappearances always resulted in food. And food was _always_ a good thing. A properly dressed man in a sharp suit and top hat had stopped in front of my Mother, and was eyeing her with curiosity.

"Good evening monsieur," she slurred, "you be interested in some proper company t'night?"

When the man spoke, my attention was wrenched away from the silly game I was playing with Chelsea, and up to those _frightening _blue eyes.

"I'm afraid you'll have to whore elsewhere, _mademoiselle. _My interest pertains to the young girl with the crimson locks behind you" said the man. He had a slight French accent, and his grin seemed to glint in the dull light of the streetlamps.

My Mother was instantly aware that the rude man was staring at me with the hungry intent of a wolf about to have its way with a sheep. She was insane, no doubt, but her motherly instincts had only been reinforced through her insanity.

"I'm sorry sir, my daughter's only but 8 years old. What could you possibly be wantin' from her, then?"

She drew herself up off the street and inched her way backwards to my sister and I. She teetered on a broken foot that had left her with a bit of gimp and folded her arms across her chest, it really was a pathetic attempt at protection against a being who could rip her apart before her heart was able to beat twice.

And that was exactly what he did.

It's more of a slow-motion blur, really…in my memories. My Mother being propelled with a mighty force against the side of a building, her body crumpling into a repugnant mash…my sister's tiny scream as he sunk his teeth into her…

And I remember what he said. It still echoes in my head sometimes.

"Pay no attention, chéri. It will be only a fortnight before you fail to remember them both."

But I never forgot.

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**Next chapter will be a continuation of Fern's story, I decided that I needed more than one chapter to get everything in.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8: Vivien

**0k, so I _know _****you're probably getting bored with the whole "Fern's traumatic history" thing, but I promise that there's only going to be one more chapter of it. I just really feel like it's important to know the facts of why Fern is such a bitter, messed up little freak.**

**But I still love her!  
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**Also, please let me know if you thing I should change the rating to "M" there's some pretty suggestive stuff in here.  
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**Chapter 8: Vivien**

'"Pay no attention, chéri. It will be only a fortnight before you fail to remember them both."

The man who had just slain my Mother and my little sister reached out a cold, pale hand to me…his top hat fell to the blood-stained cobblestone street as he bowed forward. He had a mess of shaggy blond hair on his head with ridiculous side burns, and his eyes…his eyes could pierce through you like the sharpened edge of a spear. Now, being only 8 years old and thoroughly overcome with shock, I could do nothing but let him take my own tiny hand and whisk me into his arms. I fell in and out of consciousness that night. I would open my eyes and be met with the sight of his thin body working over me, then a dingy sort of dungeon room, and again to the sight of several decomposed carcasses of what I now realize were other children he had stolen, chained to a wall.

His name was Vivien. He did not tell me until the 3rd day of my stay in his home, or rather, his dungeon- and he told me while he was feeding from an upper portion of my thigh. _Chéri, I would so love if you could call me by name. 'Vivien'. Go on now, try saying it 'Vivien', 'Vivien'. _But I did not open my mouth. Nor did I cry, nor did I sleep, nor did I feel anything much else than repressed despair and hatred for this terrible man who caused me great pain from the time I had arrived at the horrifying place. He often curled a disgusting pale finger around my red curls as he fed from me, and many times he kissed me on my chapped lips, letting the blood in his mouth flow into mine. Vivien was in love with me. He told me so almost a decade after I had been turned. He was a first class pedophile; the disgusting kind of predator that could get away with stealing beggar children from their dirty shacks in London and keep them chained to a wall in his dungeon for as long as he could drink from them. Being a pedophile worked in Vivien's favor because the blood of a child is sweeter than any other human's blood, and many of them were too weak to put up fights when he tortured them.

But I was different. Vivien thirsted for my blood more so than any other child before me, but he also didn't want to see me die. He wanted me so bad that he stopped drinking from me when I began to show signs of starvation and dehydration. In a sudden impulse, he decided that turning me into a vampire was the only way he could keep me forever. So Vivien drained me, let me feed from him, and slept with me in a hole in his dungeon for two days. On the second night, I rose as vampire. I was confused and hungry-so hungry I felt as if I would die all over again.

"You are no longer a human child, my darling. You are a beast that feeds off the life force of others. We must never see the light of day, nor touch the slightest silver, nor reveal ourselves to human kind. And never, _ever_ shall you disobey me, for I am your master", he told me gingerly.

And so it was that I was made vampire, but I did not grasp the concept that I was no longer human. I acted no differently that I had as a normal child…accept of course, that I was quieter and more _bloodthirsty_. My first meal consisted of an old beggar woman out on the street; Vivien taught me how to silence my victim by breaking their neck and then sucking them dry. It was best, as he put it, for me to kill in my first years of being vampire because it would be hard for me to learn how to glamour humans.

The years of my eternal childhood went on; I began to develop the personality of a young girl. When I turned 17, Vivien destroyed my purity. It hurt every time, but something was different about his familiar advances- I was intelligent and _strong _enough to get him off me and hurl insults at him. I hated Vivien with more passion than I had ever felt before. I often threw tantrums and threatened to burn myself in the sun at his expense. But he continued to love me and treat me like his child…a child that he lusted for more than the blood of any human. By the time I was 30 I was still unable to glamour and found myself unnecessarily tied to him. I was not careful enough with my victims to risk escape. Besides, he was better at coaxing humans into his trap with his 28 year-old dashing looks. I was also completely aware of the fact that I was not _maturing _the way most women did. I remained stagnant in my 8-year old body, a flat chest, the same childish red curls flowing down my back, the same child-like demeanor. The only thing worse than being a vampire is being a vampire in a child's body. When I had been in London for half of a decade, the blocked-out memories of Vivien brutalizing my Mother and sister slowly started to return to me. It fueled my hatred; fueled it until I could only release my anger on the humans I fed from. I was still under the impenetrable spell of my maker.

Vivien soon grew tired of London. He had lived there for two centuries and he was worried that my messy killing habits (I often snuck off by myself and devoured men who I imagined to resemble Vivien in fits of my repressed rage) might soon put us on "wanted" notices. He was inexplicably skilled at glamouring humans, he could glamour an entire ballroom of people to the near point of insanity, but he could not stalk and glamour each and every person that witnessed my slaughters. After all, it was the 1800's and railway systems had made it easier for vampires to travel great distances without having to reveal themselves to the sun. We made our way to his home town, the root of his disgusting existence- Paris, France. Paris was, of course, a shock to my system when I first arrived. People spoke in a strange tongue and the city was so much more _beautiful_ than the dank streets of London. As we settled and found a quaint flat in the center of town with an accessible cellar, Vivien taught me to speak French- as well as how to expand my English vocabulary and speak, as he called it like a "Dame de la haute société" ( a high society lady). Perhaps he was trying to win my affection after realizing I hated him, but Vivien catered to my every wish. He stole for me the latest fashions, had them tailored to fit my childish body, and even let me have a pet dog…which sadly, only lasted for a few weeks because I forgot to feed it.

By the late 1870's I was nearing 128 years old. Time no longer seemed tangible, and hopes of escaping seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream. That was, of course, until one night when I had ventured off to a nearby park and caught wind of a conversation between two rich gentlemen who spoke of a place called "The United States". Their tones while speaking seemed to be very displeased with the culture and government in the United States (for reasons I did not understand at that time, Vivien didn't bother teaching me world history) but I couldn't help but picture the diverse lands and the promise of a new life. I had begun a new obsession: getting to the United States and starting a completely new life. A life full of promises…a life _sans _Vivien. I pictured myself suddenly growing older without him by my side, the terrible curse of being vampire lifted- and human sensations that I could no longer recall flowing back into my frail body. I was convinced that Vivien was the curse. And there had to be a way to get away from him.


	9. Chapter 9: Unadulterated Rage

**Chapter 9: Unadulterated Rage**

_And there had to be a way to get away from him._

I planned for months before ever actually testing an escape on Vivien. I possessed intelligence far beyond my years, but he was still a great deal smarter and stronger than I was. It unnerved me a bit to think that in all his days of keeping me close to his side he had probably accounted for me to try and escape some day. My method would have to be unexpected, and it would have to be quick…exceedingly quick. Eventually I found my loophole. Through Vivien's love for me he had made the biggest mistake of all- he had revealed the vampire's many weaknesses for fear that I would somehow fall victim to them. I wanted to laugh at how poetic it was that _he_ would be the one to fall victim to them.

After procuring a pair of finely tailored leather gloves from a store (I was an expert shoplifter) I returned to an activity that I had not done since I was human. I glided gently through crowds of unsuspecting French aristocrats; to them there was nothing suspicious about a small pale girl with red hair roaming the streets at night, and pick-pocketed. It took a while until finally I found the item I was looking for: an expensive pocket watch on a very long, _silver _chain. It was the first time I had ever held silver; it was beautiful, but I did well to remind myself that it was also incredibly lethal when handled with bare skin.

Later that night I returned to our loft (the upstairs was merely a show for our quarters in the basement) and saw Vivien pacing around through the window, undoubtedly anxious for my return.

"Mon dieu", he exclaimed when I opened the door, "and _where _have you been, Chérie?"

In an instant he was holding my face in his hands, his eyes practically burning a hole into my forehead.

"I've begun to worry so much about you. You seem distant… more withdrawn. Are you bored with Paris? We could leave if you wish it so" he whispered in lavish French. Vivien's sharp blue eyes dissipated my thoughts for a moment; it was another one his unfortunate powers over me.

But then, I smiled sweetly. It was the one thing Vivien could not resist: my smile.

"Please, mon amour, sit down before you crush my face. I have something I want to show you" I crooned back in my sweetest French.

I grasped both of his hands in mine, making sure it was more of a loving squeeze than an anticipatory crush, and led him over to his favorite chair. Vivien collapsed into it, and I wrapped my arms around his neck lovingly, letting my lips graze the nape of his neck. I wanted oh-so-very-much to spit down the back of his shirt. But I waited patiently for a few minutes while he patted my hands over his chest.

"Just sit for a moment, I'll go and get it", I murmured in his ear. Gently, I unwrapped my arms from his shoulders and padded over to the black sack I had left lying by the door. Vivien paid almost no attention to me digging through the sack, as he was very much occupied with rubbing his temples in thought- an action that seemed unnecessarily human. I knew that my next act would have to be quick- before he decided it would be a good idea to lock me in the cellar for the night. Softly, I pulled the black leather gloves back on and snatched the silver chain out of the sack, it glinted for a second in the light of a nearby candle, and I half expected Vivien to notice it in the corner of his eye. When he did nothing, I padded back over to his chair, the chain clutched in my fist.

"What is it you wanted to show me, Chérie?" he questioned as I took my place at the back of his chair. He removed his hands from his temples, and turned his head to look at me.

I made sure that the next thing I said was in English, a language that had not been taught to me by the man I hated most. "I want to show you, _Vivien_, something that I think, perhaps, will change your outlook on our relationship."

Vivien was granted no time to give me a confused look, to question why I was wearing gloves, or to even act on an impulse of an instinct…there was only a quick snapping sound as I wrapped the silver chain around his neck and pushed him to the floor. His flesh seared as I pulled his head back, and he cried out to me, mostly in a jabber of "stop" or "please stop". He scraped his nails across the floor boards, trying with pathetic desperation to get away. He wouldn't hurt me. The fucking coward wouldn't even reach back and rip my arms from right out of their sockets.

"You _monster_", I snarled as I held him down, "I will be locked in this hell no longer! Your love for me is only a falsehood of your vile lust for my youth!"

In my animalistic rage, I flung my foot into the wood floorboards, splintering a section almost perfectly. With one hand still gripping the chain, I drove a splintered wood piece through an upper portion of his spine. Vivien didn't explode in one piece, no- the lower part of his body went first, bursting open with whatever organs or bones it is that vampires still possess. I screamed and backed up against the opposite wall from him, letting the silver chain still hang around his neck. He looked at me, his eyes bleeding, his fangs driven through his lower lip, and said absolutely nothing. The man who I had been absolutely sure would fight against his ultimate demise, let the rest of his body melt into the floor-nothing more than a bloody soup.

His eyes went last. I believe, Leo, with every fiber of my ostentatious existence that he was trying to look at me until he could no longer. Vivien hungered for me even in terrible destruction.

I left that house in Paris, and waited for the feelings of humanity to return to my body. It never came. But America still awaited me, and it was time to continue living- or rather, continue being. How exactly I came to be in Shreveport, Louisiana of all places is not important. What is important is that you know things never got better for me, and neither will they getter any better for you from this moment forward.

Wake up, Leo.

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**Are you depressed yet? But seriously though- next chapter we'll get back to more Leo. **

**P.S: If you live in the U.S True Blood season 3 starts tomorrow night. I'm not even gonna try to express how excited I am. I'll leave it to your imagination.**_  
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	10. Chapter 10: First terror

**Chapter 10: First terror**

"Wake up, Leo".

If you were to ask a vampire, any vampire, what they remember most about their transformation experience, they would more than likely tell you it was the most unpleasant feeling that one could have. Leo Hoffman experienced only one thing in the two seconds after he flicked his eyes open and felt dirt heavy on his face.

Pure, soul-twisting terror.

He wanted to scream but he clamped his mouth shut for fear that he would choke to death after inhaling the copious amounts of dirt. He struggled to move his body, wriggling his hands and feet wildly and trying to find some sort of an exit. His savior came, a frigid hand grasping his arm and pulling him through layers of earth. Leo closed his eyes again. _What's happening to me?_

The humid night air sent a shock through his system, he struggled to breathe, spitting out dirt clods and clumps of god knew what else- when he realized he did not feel the need to take a breath. Fern was standing in front of him, her hand still clenched on his arm, and her eyes unusually strung with pity. She let go of his arm, letting him study his own hands in confusion.

"What the_ hell_ did you do to me?" he growled.

"You're a vampire, Leo. I thought you would have realized that by now, what with your wounds all healed and the inability to breathe. Are you terribly hungry?" fern whispered. She took a step back and perched herself on a grave stone. The gentle flowing of her black cotton dress in the movement of her tiny limbs set off a trigger in his mind. It had been that vampire…at Fangtasia…biting him…and then, black. Muffled discussion. The sound of a voice whispering in his ear for what had felt like a millennium.

And yes, was he ever hungry. But it didn't feel…right. He didn't feel like wolfing down a burger or even a plate of burgers. With a brutal snap, Leo's fangs retracted for the first time.

"I am _really _fucking hungry", he snarled.

Fern jumped off the gravestone and retracted her own pearlescent fangs.

"I knew you would be ravenous. We have to start off slowly, at the beginning…this whole transformation process did not really go as I had originally planned but I suppose we can find some low-life scum skulking around the streets somewhere and….Leo?"

Leo's mind had gone completely blank again. He stared forward blankly and forgot what exactly was going on and even if he was really awake. It was more of an out-of-body experience really, as his mind floated upwards and he witnessed his own body convulsing and spitting up some sort of raunchy black liquid onto the grass. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, shaking. It was then Fern's turn to be terrified.

"Leo! Oh, Leo what's wrong! What _is_ that? Did you feed already and…no…no, you couldn't have!"

Fern rushed to his side and pulled him up, only to get a face full of whatever it was Leo couldn't hold in his stomach when his head lolled towards her. She cried out in disgust and shoved him against a grave stone. Desperately, Fern tried to recall if she had heard of such a thing as newborn vampires getting sick. But then, that didn't make any sense…vampires don't get sick…they heal. Had she done something wrong in the turning process? Did he accidently drink from something already?

Leo was slamming his head against the back of a grave stone. His blue eyes darted back and forth in their sockets, a disgustingly seizure-like act. Something was indeed dreadfully wrong. In the few seconds Fern had her back to him, his appearance had changed in a repulsive way. Through his arms, his legs, his back, and his neck- were white bones that had jutted out of his skin at grotesque angles. All of the teeth in his mouth had seemed to sharpen to a point- he didn't just have 2 fangs, he had 32 fangs.

"What the fuck is _that_?" she screamed. Leo replied by emitting a guttural sound himself, something like a vampire hiss and a dog barking. His eyes had rolled completely into the back of his head. She didn't want to touch him, but she knew she had to do something quickly because it was apparent Leo wasn't going to last long with his body turning itself inside out. Eric wouldn't help her if she brought him to Fangtasia, he would probably just tell her to kill him and dispose of the gruesome remains. But then who else would help her? A thought occurred to her.

_Bill fucking Compton._

He didn't live but five minutes away, and surely he would help her with…with, whatever the hell it was Leo was doing. Swiftly, she grabbed Leo's convulsing arms and slung him over her back, paying no attention to his bones piercing into her own skin.

"If something happens to you", she whispered, "I don't think I'd be able to blame anyone but myself."


	11. Chapter 11: Mr Bill Compton

**Chapter 11: Mr. Bill Compton**

"If something happens to you", she whispered, "I don't think I'd be able to blame anyone but myself."

Fern propelled herself forward and started to move faster than she had ever moved before. She was not able to fly as many vampires were, but she then learned she contained enough internal strength to go well over 600 miles per hour. Leo seemed daft to what was going on and continued to struggle around on Fern's back and emit guttural sounds into her ear. One bone protruding from his body in particular had pierced itself into her back and emerged just below her rib cage on the other side. The interesting thing was that she didn't really even notice.

Through the blur of dense hanging trees and brush, Bill Compton's house jumped into her line of vision. Fern practically slammed herself into the door and called out "Bill Compton, I need your help!"

To the unwanted surprise of Fern, it was not her old friend Mr. Compton that opened the door, but rather a blond, beautiful young woman.

"I _must _see Bill Compton", Fern hissed while the young woman looked at her with a mixture of confusion and horror.

"What _is _that thing on your back? And…and do you know there's a _bone _coming out of your stomach?" the young woman breathed; seemingly not bothered by the fact that Fern looked to be only 8 years old.

"Please, I need Bill!"

"Sookie", came a deeper voice from inside, "who is it and what could they possible want at this hour?"

Bill Compton transpired out of the darkness of his house and stood with his mouth agape at tiny Fern and the convulsing, mutating thing on her back.

"Fern?" he breathed, "what on god's green earth is that thing on your-"

"Bill listen, you know I would normally not visit without calling upon you first but I'm having a bit of an emergency and…well, have you ever seen anything like _this _happen to a vampire?"

Fern ripped Leo from her back and gingerly placed him down on the porch where he immediately proceeded to spit up a fountain of the black liquid. The young woman named Sookie recoiled and cupped a hand to her mouth. "That's fucking disgusting!" she squealed through her hand.

"_This _is of vampire kind?" Bill questioned and motioned towards his freshly blighted porch.

"He's a newborn, actually. I only just awakened him and he was doing fine for about a minute or so…and, and then this! In all my years I've never seen anything like it! I know that I'm older than you, but you do a great deal more reading and I was hoping you might have an idea of how to save him."

There was complete silence for a moment or so, save for the guttural sounds of Leo, until Bill Compton shook his head lightly.

"I do not believe I have seen anything like this happen to a vampire", He replied with a sullen expression.

"Oh god, Bill what am I supposed to do? I have wanted a companion for so long and-"

"Wait, let me finish. You are welcome to come inside…and if he really means that much to you I happen to be in contact with a healer."

Fern choked back what she thought to be oncoming tears and nodded her head. She scooped Leo up and plopped him back down inside and watched for a second as he dug his nails into the floor.

Bill wasted no time and whipped out a cell phone, ferociously dialed a number, and walked into the living room.

Sookie continued to stare at Leo, though her hands had dropped down to her side.

"I'm terribly sorry", Fern whispered without looking up from Leo, "you're probably not used to seeing things like this."

It was another new feeling for Fern, sympathy for a human being. And what one was doing with Bill Compton she had no idea. But she was beautiful…and there was something…different about her.

"Oh, you would be surprised. I've been mauled by a Maenad before. This ain't any weirder or more frightening than that was" Sookie whispered back, a slight smile on her face.

Awkwardly, Fern returned the smile and sat down on the floor next to Leo.

"So…uh, how old are you anyways? I mean, not to be rude or anything I've just never seen any vampires that look like children."

Fern closed her eyes. "260 years old. But it seems as if I've been around longer than that."

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Three hours passed of Fern pacing back and forth between Leo, the window, and the living room. Sookie had retired upstairs to take a nap, and Bill was sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.

Almost a second before Fern felt her panic levels maxing out, the doorbell rang. Bill rushed to open the door, and a small, crotchety old woman waddled inside. She was about the same height as Fern and wore bright blue nurse's scrubs and a bit too much rouge on her pasty white cheeks. She paid almost no attention at all to Bill or Fern and shook her head at the bloody, bone-y creature that was Leo.

"Ma'am," Fern said, "I'm sure Bill already informed you of the details but-"

"Be quiet, vampire. Just let me assess the situation" she croaked, and placed her brown bag on the floor.

She made her way around Leo in a circle, poking him with her foot occasionally and emitting several "mmhmm"s.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Bill interjected.

The old woman pulled a pair of white elastic gloves out of her bag and snapped them over her tiny hands.

"He's rejecting the vampire's blood was placed into him. He's not human and he's not really vampire either" she sighed.

Fern growled angrily. "Then _what _the fuck is he and how do we fix it?"

"He's an abomination. Your best option is to just let him out of his misery, a steak through the heart or a quick bathe in the sun should do it."

"Like hell I'm going to let him die!" Fern yelled, clutching onto his hand. "There has to be a better option than that!"

The old woman lifted an eyebrow at Fern's outburst, and sighed again.

"_If _you would let me finish- I was going to give you the more risky, expensive option. He might return to a semi-normal vampire state if you were to drain the blood already inside his body, and replace it with the blood of a much older and more powerful vampire. Let's say at least 800 years old."

Bill and Fern exchanged apprehensive glances. There was only one vampire in the state of Louisiana that was at least 800 years old, and he certainly did not give out his blood for favors. There would have to a sacrifice on both ends.

"Bill, I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you again…but I need your help getting Leo back to Shreveport."


	12. Chapter 12: Freak Show

**Chapter 12: Freak Show**

"Bill, I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you again…but I need your help getting Leo back to Shreveport."

Outside the car window was a painted green mush; the scenery flew past so quickly that it seemed to diffuse itself into a leafy conglomerate. Bill gripped the wheel with a sort of quiet intensity, not evening giving a backwards glance at Leo, now wrapped in a blood soaked quilt, and Fern holding onto him in the back seat. Sookie had been left at home- and it was just as well according to Bill, because she had experienced one too many adventures from the time she had come to know vampires. They were certainly not getting to Shreveport in the amount of time it had taken Fern to get to Bon Temps…but not drinking for more than a few days was starting to drain her of energy.

"Might I inquire as to how exactly you are going to convince Eric Northman to become Leo's second maker?" Bill's question forced Fern to look away from the scene outside and actually start thinking about the impending task ahead.

"I really don't know how this going to work. I owe Eric more favors than he could ever owe me. But I need to save this human. He has been my responsibility from the moment I asked him to join me in death…we are fated to be together."

Fern considered the words _second maker _in her head and wondered if Eric was up to taking another progeny. From what she had heard, it certainly took a lot of will power and devotion to mold a proper vampire; time and will power that Eric Northman already put in to Fangtasia and his underground v selling business. Besides, wasn't Leo _hers_? Who knew what Eric would do once Leo was _his._ The thought would have made her shudder, if not for the sickening glow of the Fangtasia sign crawling into view. A quick glance over to the shuddering, blanketed mound and Fern dually noted that her argument would not only have to be incredibly convincing, but incredibly fast.

Bill careened into the Fangtasia parking lot, taking special care not to run over any startled vamp-wannabes.

"I won't be going in, Eric and I haven't been mixing well lately", he said gruffly.

Gingerly, Fern cradled what-was-once-Leo in her arms, shoved the car door open, and walked quickly across the crowded sidewalk. The site of a young girl carrying something revolting under a blood-stained quilt did not go unnoticed. Several people waiting in line to enter the club gawked with their mouths practically swinging on their hinges, emitting sharp murmurs of "the fuck _is _that?" There was no point in going in the side door; Fern knew exactly where Eric would be. Ignoring the eyes of everyone in line on her, she shoved past a fat couple and into the pulsating club.

"Eric," Fern yelled out as loud as she possibly could, hoping he would notice her through all the flashing lights and masses of people, "I need your help! Please!"

The club went silent. A pole dancer stopped almost mid-twirl to stare. Somewhere, someone said "Oh my god." Fern looked down, and realized that the quilt had one way or another detached itself from Leo, and he hadn't exactly gotten any…prettier since she last saw him. His entire body was now without skin, and he twitched his head around sporadically-giving everyone at Fangtasia a good look with his eyes that were slightly hanging out of their sockets. It was only a few seconds before people started screaming and running past Fern out of the exit. Eric Northman stood from his chair and was instantaneously standing in front of them, his fangs bared in anger.

"Get that _thing _out of my bar right now. What the fuck were you thinking bringing someone you've _skinned_ into a place packed with humans?" he growled. A dancer ran by him, half tripping over her high heels and screaming to high heaven.

"This isn't someone I've attacked, this is my progeny! When he awakened from the grave he became like this! Please, he needs your blood!" Fern shouted back.

Suddenly, Eric became less enraged. He retracted his fangs and looked with bewilderment down at the body in Fern's arms.

"You're not joking…then this isn't a vampire, it's something else entirely…"

"Please, Eric he's in pain!"

"And why should I help you? I'll be dealing with the police coming in here and questioning me for months! I owe you nothing!"

Blood started to stream down Fern's face, she had not cried for as long as she could remember. "Please do this for me, it's been so long…so long since I've loved anyone as much as him" she whispered.

In a snarl of resilience, Eric ripped into his own arm and placed it above Leo's open mouth. He let the blood trickle in slowly, taking special care not to speed the process up.

"Fern, you do realize what you've made me do, don't you?"

* * *

_**Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been busy with school and such. So hopefully I'll get done with the next chapter by the end of this weekend. Again-let me know if I should change the rating to "Mature" or not...**_


	13. Chapter 13: Fire

**Chapter 13: Fire**

"Fern, you do realize what you've made me do, don't you?"

In an amazingly unappealing show of spits, gurgles, and twitches, Leo's distended eye balls started to retreat back into his head. Fern tentatively set him down on the bar, ignoring Eric's question and his progeny's sarcastic mumbles upon finding the distasteful scene. In a pale wave, Leo's skin started to re-emerge where it had disappeared into gore and bone, dropping out pieces of bloody fabric that had been clothes at one point in time. Leo emitted as small gasp when the skin grew back around his face, but his eyes closed instinctively.

"Look, I'm sure this re-awakening process is disgustingly important to you…but I asked you a question", said the cool voice of Eric, once Fern hadn't paid attention to him for a few minutes.

"You asked me if I realized what I've made you do. My answer is that I know you have saved my progeny, and for that I owe you humble reparation."

Fern laid her tiny index finger across one of Leo's cheekbones and blinked back what felt like oncoming tears. He was vampire again, and he was hers forever…she would let nothing change that. Not Eric, or Bill, or any vampire authority would pry him out from under her.

"Don't be naïve", barked Eric, "you know there will be repercussions to me giving him my blood. Vampires aren't meant to have two makers, neither are they meant to awaken _twice._ Besides, who knows why he rejected your blood in the first place, it's an-"

"Eric, be quiet", Fern hissed.

Leo's eyes had flickered open, and he was staring up at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of the people around him and his whereabouts.

"Leo? Oh, Leo can you hear me? Do you remember anything that happened?" Fern grasped one of his hands in hers and looked into his face, searching for any register in his expression that her voice sounded familiar. His eyes widened, and in less than a second he was up off the bar counter and backed up against an opposite wall. For a moment his lips quivered in an effort to formulate words. His blue eyes darted back from Eric, to Fern, and back to Eric.

"W…what the fuck did you do to me? I…I…I feel like I'm on fire", he murmured.

"Obviously if you felt like you were on fire you would be screaming like a little girl," Eric commented in a somewhat sardonic manner.

"Eric! Please be quiet!" Fern said for a second time. She looked over at Leo, and extended a hand gently toward him "come to me Leo, I'm sure you're feeling bad because you haven't fed."

Leo stared vacantly over at Fern and shook his head "No…this isn't pain…it's…different…"

In another blur, Leo's shaking hands were around Eric's neck, his arms stretched to their limit because of the staggering height difference. Eric appeared to be more annoyed than surprised at the sudden outburst. He extended his fangs and let out a snarl.

"I _really _don't feel like staking a useless vampire tonight…but if you don't get the _fuck_ off me I may have a change of heart" he growled.

Despite Eric's warning, Leo continued to wrap his hands around his muscular neck, his focused not phased in the little by Fern's whimpers of "no" and "get off". Angrily, Eric flung Leo onto the ground and pinned him by the shoulders.

"Don't be foolish, I saved your life!" Eric yelled. Leo made no move to escape from his grasp; he only extended his own fangs…and started to laugh manically. Fern watched in horror as two long, white bones also extended out from his shoulder blades, piercing Eric in the chest and sending him reeling back in shock.

Eric's two wounds healed quickly, but he continued to look completely bewildered.

"How…how did you that?" Fern whispered.

"I _told _you…I feel like I'm on fire…like I could kill anything that crossed me…"

Leo was standing directly in front of Eric in a frighteningly fast motion, so fast that Fern had not even noticed a blur. With a single, seemingly effortless swing of his arm, Eric was flung back into the bar- breaking glasses and splintering the table in two. Eric's progeny flew to his side just as Leo began to raise his arm again-

Fern jumped in front of Eric and cried out "No! As your maker I command you to leave them alone!"

* * *

**Ok, so...I'm predicting that there's going to be like 4 more chapters and then I'm going to make a sequel to this story. I don't really thing that 20+ chapters is necessary. Oh, and also if you read and have any (and I mean any) suggestions for how I can improve my writing, the plot, or just comments in general please drop by and give me a review. Them things make my day.**

**~Navets  
**


	14. Chapter 14: Out into the night

**Chapter 14: Out into the night**

"No! As your maker I command you to leave them alone!"

It was pointedly clear that Leo was high off of power. What kind of power it was- Fern couldn't say. But she knew from the moment he stepped back from her extended arms and flung his own fist into a bar stool, fragmenting it dramatically, that he was in no-way normal, not even for a vampire. The bar was a complete and total wreck.

Eric let out a stifled groan as he yanked a piece of wood out of his arm. "You are going to pay me back for all these damages, right?" he asked Fern coarsely.

"Leo, what were you thinking? I am your maker just as much as Eric is! He saved your life and you…what is wrong with you?" she yelled.

"Bull shit," Leo spoke in an inappropriately calm voice, "he was the one who did this to me in the first place. All I can remember…before…well, before whatever the hell _this_ is, is him acting like my neck was a slab of prime meat."

Fern averted her eyes to Eric, who was being aided by his progeny in removing bountiful splinters, but she managed to match Leo's mellow tone. "Regardless of the circumstances before your _re-awakening_, no newborn vampire should ever have this amount of strength. We need to find someone who can explain this…so I can help you!"

"Just kill that abomination when you get the chance", Eric's progeny, Pam, grumbled.

In a brazen show of emotion Leo hurled a large wood chunk directly above Eric which, not surprisingly, left a clean hole in the wall.

"Oh just stop it", Fern rushed over to Leo and grabbed his hand with her own tiny hand, "I know you must being feeling some things that I can't related to…but you need to calm down so we can find help."

He continued to look enraged, his fangs bared, at Eric and Pam- but the reassurance of Fern's hand in his stopped him from ripping them apart.

"I can't stand it…I need to destroy something…anything…" Leo whispered.

"You've done a pretty impressive job of destroying my club, so it should come as no shock to both of you when I tell you to please get the fuck out" , Eric said through his teeth. He stood, a splinter still planted in one of his biceps, and made a large sweeping motion with his pale fire-hose of an arm towards the door.

"Eric…I promise something will be done to make up for this…but I'll have you remember that Leo is not solely my responsibility anymore."

"Just get the _fuck out of my bar_" Eric shouted, his fangs bared.

Fern pulled Leo, who was now fully able to match her speed, once again out into the dimly lit parking lot. Bill's car was nowhere and sight, but Fern felt this was understandable as infatuated with that human as he was. Leo stood next to her, calm and unmoving. She couldn't get a good read on what he was currently feeling. She decided against asking him.

"Come, we'll retire to my apartment. Perhaps we'll pick up a bite to eat on the way" Fern whispered.

The two young vampires- one young outwardly, one young inwardly, set off to face the boundless intimidations of the unrelenting night.

* * *

**So I know it's been forever since I've updated and I appreciate anyone who reads this after my ditching the story for so long.**

**This is the end of the first part of my Encounter with a Young Vampire story, I'm already formulating ideas for Part 2. Thanks for reading and keep looking out for the second part!  
**


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